Of Snow and Lemons: Tatiana on the Sicily Divide

When life gives you lemons… make lemon pasta? Facing rain, headwinds, and mechanicals while bikepacking the Sicily Divide, Tatiana and friends make the best of it with an unconventional ascent of snowy Mount Etna…

Words by Tatiana, photos by Bruno Ferraro

Our Sicily Divide started under less than ideal conditions. For the first two days, our group of four endured gusty winds and rain clouds. On the third day, disaster struck. A problem with my bottom bracket shell led to the Di2 cable getting wrapped around the crank and tearing it. I spent two hours in a bar trying to charge the battery without spotting the real issue. In the end, a kind employee drove me to our accommodation in Enna, saving me from a long walk through yet another downpour. I looked out through the car window, wondering how my friends were managing the wet 1000-meter climb up to the town.

That evening in Enna, I found the torn cable and thought my ride was over. Bruno and I said goodbye to our friends and took a bus straight to a bike shop in Catania, the end point of the route. The gruff Italian mechanic worked magic, replacing the damaged parts and handing me a perfectly working bike within an hour. The forecast was still rain, so we spent two days in Catania licking our wounds and planning an improvised adventure. When life gives you lemons…

To finish our Sicily Divide, we would ride up Mount Etna—not the usual west-to-east direction but east-to-west, starting right from at the coast. 100 km and 3000 m of climbing later, we would reach Adrano on the western side of the volcano and then continue back to Enna, where’d cut our ride short.

I was completely drained after the rain and wind of the previous days. But the idea of standing on a volcano was too tempting to pass up. The first half was manageable on smooth tarmac, but as soon as we embarked on a gravel detour, things got wild. The lava fields stretched endlessly, and I felt like I was on Mars—surreal black-red soil with mist rising above it.

With just a few kilometers to go on the gravel, the path of fine black lava began to mix with fresh white snow. It started stacking up, and soon, I couldn’t pedal at all. Wet snow and lava stuck to my tires, stopping the wheels. Nothing to do but walk. Bruno trudged ahead of me, and I tried to step in his footprints in the snow. We walked for many hours high up on otherworldly Etna without seeing another soul. Night fell, and the moon lit our way. 

We were overjoyed when we finally spotted other human footprints in the snow. This meant we were close to the end, and we started jogging downhill. With lava peeking once again peeking out from under the white blanket, we got back on our bikes, flying down through the darkness. I was frozen at this point, but I couldn’t stop to put on another layer.

When we finally reached our BnB in Adrano, I began shaking uncontrollably. I couldn’t feel my hands or feet. It was the first time I experienced hypothermia—even after an hour under a hot shower and another hour in bed with hot tea, the shaking wouldn’t stop. Bruno fed me pizza, warmed me with tea, and hugged me, but my body just wouldn’t calm down.

But we weren’t finished yet. The next morning, in clothes that were still wet, we washed the lava off our bikes in a city fountain and set off for again. For once, we rode in the glorious southern sun. I kept looking back at majestic Mount Etna with its snowy peak that we’d struggled through last night. With our last bit of strength, we made it to Enna, completing our unconventional Sicily Divide. We’d done it, though not the way we’d expected. 

From Enna, we took a bus to Palermo, from there an overnight ferry to Naples. A train took us to Sorrento, where we feasted on shrimp pasta and napped on a park bench with a sea view. Then came the long-awaited Amalfi Coast. People fly from all over the world to ride along the breathtaking cliffs and lemon groves. But I was too exhausted to care that I was riding along the most beautiful coast in Italy. I struggled to enjoy the moment.

However, three nights in Salerno gave me a chance to slow down. After a good sleep, Neapolitan pizza, and my first taste of limoncello, I fell in love with the lemon groves and the turquoise coast. Now, my favorite dish is pasta with lemon sauce, and I dream of one day growing my own lemon tree.